Register a Birth

Congratulations on the birth of your baby!

Now that your baby has been born it is the law that the birth is registered with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the area within 42 days of the date of birth.

Make an appointment at Wakefield Town Hall or Pontefract Town Hall. Please note that the date available on our online booking system is the next available date, please do not contact us by telephone to try and establish an earlier date as this won't be possible.

If you live outside the area where your baby was born or move away from the area before you are able to register the birth of your baby, you can make an appointment with one of the Registrars in an area that is easier for you to attend to make a declaration. If you do this the information is then passed to the area where your baby was delivered. For help with identifying your nearest Register Office, visit the government advice page here visit the government advice page here.

Attending your appointment

Information to be provided by parents - Register a birth
If you are unmarried or not in a civil partnership and the father's details/second parent is to be entered on the registration, both parents must attend the appointment to register the birth
We ask that you arrive on time for your appointment. If you arrive late you will be asked to reschedule your appointment
Payments for certificates can be made by card payment only.
You must not attend the office without a confirmed appointment

Documents to bring when registering a birth

It would be helpful, but not essential if you could bring the following documents:

Hospital discharge papers
Proof of parents' names - including any change of name, such as current passports or birth certificates of the parents/deed poll / your marriage and /or civil partnership certificate – including any from previous relationships, if available
Proof of address. This could include a driving licence, benefit statement, or Council Tax bill

Birth Certificates

Following registration, you may purchase as many full birth certificates as you need for £11 each. A keepsake folder is also available for £1. We are pleased to donate 15% of this fee to local charities.

Please note if this is a registration by declaration i.e. your baby was born outside the Wakefield district, the information you give will be forwarded to the appropriate Register Office which will register your baby's birth. Certificates can be requested from that Register Office.

Baby's Passport Application

You can apply for your child's first passport online through Her Majesty's Passport Office's fully digital service which is available on the GOV.UK page here.

Child Benefit

Don’t miss out on Child Benefits: Information about Child Benefits can be found on GOV.UK including the Child Benefit claim form CH2 (CH2 Claim Form). For your first child, this must be printed out, filled in, and sent to the Child Benefit office. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can call 0300 200 3100 and HMRC will send you a form in the post. The form also contains information for the small minority of families who may be eligible for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). If you already have a Child Benefit claim, you can add further children by calling HMRC on the number above.

Wakefield Families Together

Family Hubs are a one-stop shop where parents, carers, and young people can walk in, email, or telephone to access whole family support. You can find your nearest Family Hub by visiting: www.wakefieldfamiliestogether.co.uk

Baby loss certificate

If you are a parent who experiences a loss of pregnancy before 24 weeks you are able to get certificate in memory of your baby. Please visit gov.uk/request-baby-loss-certificate to request a certificate.

Re-registration of a birth

Due to a significant increase in demand for birth registration and notice of marriage appointments we are only able to offer an appointment to re-register a birth at either of our offices Monday to Friday. This will be reviewed every 4 weeks.

If your child's natural father is not included on the original birth record and you would like the details added to the record, you must apply to re-register your child's birth.

The process for re-registering your child's birth depends on whether you:

Are not married
Are natural parents and got married or formed a civil partnership

If you are not married and would like the natural father's details added to the birth record you can apply for a re-registration:

Download and complete the application GRO185 form
Return the form by email to wakefieldregistrars@wakefield.gov.uk or post to Wakefield Register Office, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ
On receipt of a satisfactorily completed form we will contact you for an appointment - both parents must attend the appointment and bring the completed GRO185 form which has been signed by both parents along with the original birth certificates issued at the time of registration

At the appointment to re-register you can purchase a new birth certificate

If you and your partner are natural parents and have married each other or formed an opposite-sex civil partnership since your baby's birth and want the birth record to show your son or daughter as a child of your marriage/civil partnership then you need to:

Download and complete the application LA1 form
Return the form by email to wakefieldregistrars@wakefield.gov.uk or post to Wakefield Register Office, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ
On receipt of a satisfactorily completed form, we will contact you for an appointment – only one parent needs to attend the appointment and bring the completed LA1 form which has been signed by both parents along with the documents as outlined on the form
Please note that if your marriage took place outside the UK then your application will need to be referred to the General Register Office, therefore you should advise us of this before booking an appointment, as the appointment cannot go ahead without the approval of the GRO.
At the appointment to re-register you can purchase a new birth certificate

It is free to re-register a birth. However, if you wish to purchase a copy of the new birth certificate, it costs £11 per copy.

Correct a Birth Registration

If you notice a mistake in the registration after the appointment you can apply for a correction. In some cases, the correction will need approval from the General Register Office before the Registrar can change it.

You need to:

Contact us to discuss the type of correction needed and how to make the application
Complete an application form stating what the error is and how it was made. Documentary evidence showing the correct information will need to be produced in order for the correction to be authorised and you will need to return any certificates you previously purchased for destruction.

It costs £75 or £90 to apply for a correction. If you wish to purchase a copy of the certificate after correction it costs £11 per copy.

Remove wrong father's details

If you need to apply to remove the wrong father's details recorded on a birth registration you will need to produce sufficient information to show that the man named on the certificate is not the natural father of the child such as a DNA test report from an approved tester or a court order.

You need to:

Complete an application form and provide documentary evidence. You will need to return any certificates you purchased originally for destruction
Contact us so we can advise you on how to submit your application and make payment

It costs £90 to make the application. If you wish to purchase a copy of the certificate after correction it costs £11 per copy.

The original information will always be shown as it was first given at the time of the registration, but a note will be written in the margin of the register explaining the details of the named man should not have been recorded and the date on which the correction was made.

The correction will not put the true father's details into the birth entry, for this to take place the birth will need to be re-registered.

All certificates issued after the correction will include this note. This is because birth certificates must show the same information as the birth entry.

However, if the birth is re-registered with the true father's details then this new record will supersede the old record.

Change the name of your child under 12 months old

If you decide to change your child's first name(s) within 12 months of the date of the registration of the birth, you are able to do so on the original birth registration. Please note, you will only be able to do this once.

You need to:

Complete a form Space 17 (obtained by emailing wakefieldregistrars@wakefield.gov.uk
Download and complete this form
Return the form and your original certificates to The Register Office, Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ, and provide a contact number
Upon receipt of the form, we will contact you on the number provided to take payment
Once completed your certificates will be sent out by post.

It costs £40 to make an application. If you wish to purchase a copy of the certificate after correction it costs £11 per copy. Your certificate will be sent by 2nd class post. Please allow 10 working days for delivery.

Please note, we cannot accept responsibility if your certificate is not delivered by Royal Mail. If your certificate is not delivered by Royal Mail you will need to re-order and pay for these using our online certificate application form.

We recommended that your certificate is sent by Royal Mail first class signed for post for an additional charge. If your certificates are sent by first class signed for post and not delivered within 10 working days, please contact us to obtain the tracking number.

If the child has been baptised in the Christian faith within the 12-month period after birth registration you can apply to change their name on the original birth registration.

You need to:

Contact us to obtain a form to take to the Minister of the Church in which the child was baptised.
Once you have the form completed by the Minister of the Church return the form and your original certificates to The Register Office, Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ, and provide a contact number
Upon receipt of the form, we will contact you on the number provided to take payment
Once completed your certificates will be sent out by first class signed for post.

This process can be done at any time after the birth as long as the baptism took place within 12 months of the registration.